STOP & WATCH: Tips for writing a good short-form video hook

It’s all about the hook. If I don’t write a useful hook here why on earth would you read on? 

If you picked up a novel and the first sentence didn’t work for you why would you read on?

Take Charles Dickens’ ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ (1859). 

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

A good hook in literature is an opening sentence demands you read on.

Good short-form video is the same.

Makers have also learned a hook can act as a way to stop people from scrolling. 

A hook can sometimes be visual. A block of flats blowing up is visual. So is a chip pan fire demonstration. 

But more often than not it’s words that are doing the work.

How? 

The two types of text on a video: the midscroll hook

As you scroll, you come across the first few seconds of a short-form film. 

Whoever has posted it is mighty lucky if your attention is taken long enough to stop. All too often poor visuals and no hook means the audience scrolls on.

It’s important to add some text to stop the audience from scrolling. 

The second type is the text you add as a title. This is the text you add so when someone scrolls to your page as Reels or TikTok so they can see what you have on offer.

Firstly, the mid-scroll hook. That’s the one that captures you as you are scrolling.

Good lessons for the mid-scroll hook 

You want something to catch people’s eye.

Here’s four things to think about

1. Don’t rush to tell the whole story unless it’s a heck of a story.
2. Tease.
3. Intrigue works.
4. What’s your stand-out quote?

Here’s some examples (with the number of engagements and channel in brackets).

‘They said I’d never sing again.’ MacMillan Cancer (8,000 on TikTok).

‘Phone thief. Unmarked police car.’ Metropolitan Police (40k on Instagram).

‘Look at it go,’ RNLI (80k on TikTok).

‘10 questions for couples,’ Police Scotland (100 on Facebook).

‘You’re about to witness a historic moment,’ National Trust (730k on TikTok).

‘Watch this incredible moment a donor heart is brought in…’  NHS England (4k on LinkedIn).

‘What’s the difference between radiotherapy and chemotherapy?’ MacMillan Cancer (1k on Facebook).

‘No matter the challenge, no matter the obstacle,’ United Nations (10k on Facebook).

‘I am seeing my dream realised.’ National Trust (112k on Instagram).

All of these can persuade people to stop and watch and in this case react.

The National Trust historic moment that captured almost three quarters of a million reactions? Wildlife being reintroduced to a river. 

Most attention needs to be paid to this but there is also a secondary hook.

The library title hook

If someone has seen some of your content and they like the look they can head to your page and look for more content. This applies to TikTok and to a lesser extent YouTube Shorts. It doesn’t really work right now for Linkedin as videos are stored in a different way.

Here’s what they can look like:

Here. people aren’t scrolling through a timeline they are searching for that book on the shelf. With this in mind you would be well served to be a bit more literal. 

Here’s four things to think about:

1. What does the film do?
2. What story does it tell?
3. How can it be helpful?
4. Is it evergreen?

‘Do you leave stuff to charge overnight?’ South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (2.5 million on TikTok).

‘Who are we?’ National Trust (5.4 million on TikTok).

‘A message for Londoners’, Mayor of London (15k on Instagram).

‘Every 12 minutes a family in England become homeless.’ Shelter (2k on Instagram).

‘Speak out about bullying’ 10 Downing Street (10k on TikTok).

‘Hello, 999? How do I remove my car charger lead?’ Metropolitan Police (7k on TikTok).

‘What do public spaces mean to you?’ Oxfam (7k on TikTok).

‘Dear Merseyside. A poem of hope.’ Merseyside Police (2k on Instagram).

‘Ways we support you.’ Royal British Legion (1k on Instagram).

‘It’s 1868 and you’ve just about had enough of him.’ Black Country Living Museum (944k on TikTok).

See what I mean?

For more, I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape ESSENTIAL AI FOR PUBLIC SECTOR COMMS, ESSENTIAL COMMS SKILLS BOOSTER, ESSENTIAL MEDIA RELATIONS and ESSENTIAL VIDEO SKILLS REBOOTED.

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